State of Stablecoins in Philippines - September 2025

The Philippines has crossed a digital tipping point: digital transactions now make up 57.4% of retail payments, signaling a payments market that is increasingly fast, electronic, and data-rich.

At the same time, overseas Filipino flows remain enormous—2024 personal $38.341B remittances underline just how much is at stake in reducing friction, costs, and delays across cross-border rails.

Against this backdrop, policy guardrails are tightening and trust-building continues: the country’s FATF grey-list exit marked a notable compliance milestone, while regulators sharpened oversight of crypto activity to balance innovation with consumer protection.

This is where stablecoins come into focus—bringing instant settlement, programmable controls, and potential cost efficiencies for remittances, merchant settlement, and treasury operations. Locally, momentum is tangible: Coins.ph’s peso-pegged PHPC advanced beyond pilot as PHPC exits sandbox, positioning a homegrown instrument to complement existing e-payment rails and last‑mile conversions.

What follows maps the state of stablecoins in the Philippines today—why regulation matters, how domestic digital money is evolving, where cross-border rails are converging, and what enterprises should do next.

The Regulatory Perimeter: BSP, SEC CASP Rules, and the VASP Moratorium

In 2025, the rulebook sharpened. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) extended its freeze on new virtual asset service provider (VASP) licenses indefinitely, signaling a sustained emphasis on consumer protection and system stability.

On the capital-markets side, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s crypto‑asset service provider (CASP) framework sets clear entry criteria: be a domestic corporation with at least PHP 100 million in paid‑up capital and a staffed local office, backed by pre‑offer disclosures and ongoing reports. Meanwhile, prudential oversight for exchanges and custodial wallets remains with the BSP under Circular 1108, which anchors AML/CFT, governance, and operational risk expectations.

Practically, this splits responsibilities: the SEC governs marketing, issuance, and trading of crypto‑assets, while the BSP supervises custody, on/off‑ramps, and any payment‑system roles. Platforms that touch both spheres should align governance, disclosures, and AML controls to satisfy each perimeter without duplicating risk.

Enforcement has also become more hands‑on. The SEC coordinated with the telecom regulator and app stores to restrict unregistered platforms, warning that continued access poses a threat to investors’ funds; at the same time, the Commission underscored there is no ban on crypto trading—only on unlicensed activity.

For operators, mapping your model to these two gates—SEC for market conduct and BSP for prudential/payment oversight—keeps launches fast, compliant, and bankable.

Key Takeaways:

• BSP supervision continues to shape market entry, with new VASP licenses frozen indefinitely; expect heightened scrutiny on consumer risk.
• The SEC CASP regime sets a high bar—minimum PHP 100 million capital—while BSP’s Circular 1108 governs exchanges and custodial wallets.
• Enforcement is active: unregistered platforms face restrictions and app‑store actions, even as the SEC reiterates no ban on compliant crypto trading.

Domestic Digital Money Stack: PHPC’s Progress and BSP’s Wholesale CBDC

Two milestones defined the Philippines’ digital money stack over the past year: the BSP’s wholesale CBDC pilot wrapped up in Dec 2024 tests, and Coins.ph’s peso stablecoin completed its sandbox phase with redemption finalized on July 5, 2025. Together, they sketch a future where programmable settlement coexists with mainstream peso rails.

PHPC’s design is straightforward: a peso-pegged token with reserves that the issuer describes as 100% backed by cash and short-term instruments held in local banks, and available on Polygon and Ronin for low-cost transfers. That mix—local-bank collateral and multi-chain issuance—aims to make PHPC useful for domestic settlement, while keeping off-ramps tightly tied to the peso system.

Operationally, the sandbox exit and timed redemption gave PHPC a clean transition into its next phase. For users and enterprises, the implication is clearer on- and off-ramps: a token that moves like crypto but settles into PHP without guesswork on convertibility or redemption windows.

On the interbank side, Project Agila validated a wholesale CBDC approach focused on resiliency and round-the-clock transfers, with the BSP signaling rollout could arrive by 2029. While retail users may never “see” Agila, banks and payment operators could gain faster finality and better liquidity management, which ultimately supports smoother consumer experiences across wallets and merchants.

The bottom line: a domestic stack is forming—PHPC for peso-denominated, programmable last-mile uses; Agila to upgrade bank-to-bank plumbing—positioning the Philippines for faster, safer, and more interoperable digital payments.

Key Takeaways:

• PHPC pairs on-chain transfers with local-bank collateral and multi-chain access, making it useful for domestic settlement and wallet-to-wallet flows.
• BSP’s Project Agila targets the interbank layer, aiming to boost resiliency and after-hours settlement that benefits downstream payment experiences.
• The two tracks—retail stablecoin and wholesale CBDC—are complementary, tightening the link between programmable money and the peso’s core infrastructure.

Cross-Border Rails and Remittances: Where Stablecoins Fit in 2025

Remittances to the Philippines hit a record USD38.34 billion, underscoring how much efficiency gains matter for families and the financial system alike.

Yet the US→PH corridor still averages 4.42% on a $200 transfer—leaving plenty of room for cheaper, faster movement via modern rails.

Stablecoins don’t replace bank networks; they plug into them, compressing settlement windows and FX pre‑funding. In parallel, instant retail payment systems are being linked across countries, with BIS’s Nexus poised to connect a market of 1.7 billion people—an architecture stablecoins can complement for treasury and last‑mile conversion.

Access is already mainstreaming. GCash now adds USDC in its GCrypto marketplace, making on‑chain “digital dollars” accessible inside a familiar wallet, while licensed exchanges facilitate quick off‑ramps to PHP. For the domestic leg, a peso‑pegged stablecoin like PHPC can handle wallet‑to‑wallet transfers and predictable conversion back to cash, aligning on‑chain speed with regulated peso rails.

Merchants and PSPs are also moving. EBANX says stablecoin payments will be available alongside GCash and Maya checkouts—pointing to a future where checkout, settlement, and cross‑border treasury converge, even as consumer payouts remain in PHP.

Put together, stablecoins are becoming the connective tissue across corridors: cutting float and friction on the cross‑border leg while dovetailing with compliant wallets and bank rails at the last mile.

Key Takeaways:

• Stablecoins slot into existing rails to reduce pre‑funding and speed up settlement, addressing persistent remittance frictions.
• Mainstream wallets now support stablecoins, easing on‑chain access while licensed off‑ramps ensure smooth conversion to PHP.
• Merchant and PSP adoption signals a near‑term shift where checkout and settlement can run on stablecoins, with consumer payouts remaining in local currency.

Adoption Signals and Enterprise Playbook: Payroll, Treasury, and Compliance

The Philippines has quietly become a majority‑digital payments market: digital transactions now make up 57.4% of retail payment volume, signaling both consumer readiness and enterprise‑grade rails.

That momentum is spilling into stablecoin access. Mainstream wallets are normalizing on‑chain money—GCash’s GCrypto now adds USDC—so employees, suppliers, and contractors can interface with stablecoins inside familiar apps, while enterprises keep treasury and compliance guardrails intact.

For payroll, start with first principles: wages to Philippine employees must be paid in legal tender. In practice, that means settling net pay in PHP (bank accounts, e‑wallets), while optionally using stablecoins upstream as funding rails for cross‑border working capital or for voluntary, employee‑elected conversions via licensed VASPs.

On treasury, document how you classify and control stablecoin positions. Under IFRS/PFRS, stablecoins typically do not qualify as cash equivalents; they’re generally treated as intangible or inventory‑like assets depending on rights and usage, so disclosures should cover redemption mechanics, counterparty risk, and liquidity.

Compliance tightens the playbook. If you touch on‑chain transfers, align with BSP’s VASP framework and ensure Travel Rule data sharing for transfers of ₱50,000 and above, including screening of unhosted‑wallet flows and vendor due diligence on the platforms you use.

Done right, stablecoins can compress cross‑border settlement times while your payouts, controls, and reporting remain firmly inside Philippine labor, accounting, and AML rules.

Key Takeaways:

• Adoption is real: majority‑digital payments and mainstream wallet access to stablecoins mean teams can fund globally and settle locally.
• Payroll must stay PHP‑denominated under the labor code; use stablecoins for funding or employee‑elected conversions via licensed VASPs.
• Treat stablecoins conservatively in treasury (not cash equivalents) and meet AML obligations, including Travel Rule thresholds and vendor due diligence.

Make Stablecoin Strategy Real—Compliant Payroll for Philippine Teams

If you’re ready to turn today’s stablecoin momentum into operational wins, Bitwage is your bridge from cross-border funding to compliant PHP payouts. Our platform delivers same-day payments in stablecoins or local currency, lets you fund payrolls with crypto while paying teams in fiat or crypto, and supports US W-2–compliant payroll where needed. With invoice management, expense tracking, and automated accounting—backed by a spotless 10-year, zero-breach security record and $400M processed for 90,000+ workers at 4,500+ companies—you get speed without sacrificing control.

Move from policy insights to measurable outcomes: compress settlement times, reduce costs, and give employees choice while keeping Philippine labor and AML requirements front and center. Ready to operationalize your strategy? Signup for Crypto Payroll today! Start onboarding now to hit your next pay cycle with faster, compliant payouts—and let Bitwage power the rails behind your growth.